First accident at newly inaugurated Suez Canal expansion

The maritime executive, reports of an incident at the newly inaugurated Suez canal, the incident which is reported to be the first since the official August 6th commissioning of the Canal’s expansion involved the catching of fire by the (vessel)M/V Om el-Kheir at berth at Port Tawfik, which is at the canal’s southern entrance.

The Suez Canal Port Authority (SCA) and Red Sea Ports Authority (RSPA) rescue teams extinguished the fire and rescued the cargo vessel’s 13 crewmembers. Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire. Traffic at the southern entrance was unaffected by the incident.

The Om el-Kheir was enroute to Cambodia.

President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi inaugurated the newly expanded parallel canal to facilitate and accelerate ship transits through the system.